Asa
KINGS OF THE JEWS 102 ASA 911–871 BCE Though Judah and Israel shared a spiritual and historical heritage, their separate perceived national interests rather than what they held in common dominated their policies and actions. When in dispute, as they often were, each was prepared to form an alliance with a non-Jewish third state to be used as an instrument against the other. Nevertheless, their Jewish faith and religious observance was at times a matter of state policy. Asa was the first ruler of either of the two kingdoms to make it so. He was still a youth when his father died. Ruling in his name, his idol-worshipping mother, Maacah, installed men from among her own courtiers in positions of authority. When Asa came of age to exercise his royal prerogatives, he removed them in favor of his own appointees. He had spent his boyhood years under Maacah’s control and care but proved to be a forceful and assertive king. Despite his mother’s pagan beliefs and the previous tolerance of pagan religious practices in Judah, he ordered heathen worship to be rooted out and the destruction of pagan religious centers. Asa even banned his mother from worshipping her Canaanite fertility goddess Asherah and destroyed the lascivious statue of the deity she had built, an act which certified her dismissal as a figure of influence. The practice of religious prostitution that accompanied some forms of pagan worship was prohibited. Also outlawed were vestiges of what Asa deemed to be idolatrous worship among Jews. Statuary was removed from Jewish shrines wherever such “high places” continued to exist in Judah despite the centrality of the holy Temple in Jerusalem. Asa well understood the political implications of his policies. So closely linked were religious and national feelings among Judaeans that his campaign of spiritual purification stirred national pride and ardor. His actions may also have been motivated by expectations of support for Judah from those within neighboring Israel offended by far more prevalent pagan practices there. The hope of eventual reunification of the Jewish nation, with Jerusalem at its heart, remained undiluted . A period of comparative peace after Asa had become king in fact as well as name permitted him to tighten Judah’s national security. Adding to the chain of KINGS OF JUDAH 103 fortified cities designed to guard the kingdom from external aggression earned him a reputation as military leader and national guardian, as did his handling of a threat from Egypt The forces he mustered at the fortified city of Mareshah, west of the Dead Sea, repelled a powerful thrust by Zerah, the Nubian commander of mercenaries garrisoned at an Egyptian outpost on Judah’s southern flank. His army scattered Zerah’s attackers and pursued the survivors beyond Gaza. It was a surprising but resounding victory and kept the Egyptians at bay for many years. Antagonism between Judah and Israel proved more difficult to resolve. Increasingly bitter, it persisted for most of Asa’s long reign, during part of which the throne of Israel was occupied by the soldier-king Baasha. Baasha sent his much stronger army south to reclaim border territory that had been annexed by the Judaeans during the reign of Asa’s father. Succeeding in that objective, the Israelites went on to invade Judah proper and even secured positions within striking distance of Jerusalem. With his crown, capital city, and kingdom at stake, Asa bought the help of King Ben-Hadad of Damascus with extravagant gifts. Unable to fight a two-front war, the Israelites had to withdraw from Judah. However strife between the two Jewish states continued unabated. Fearing a resumption of attacks from Israel, Asa seized upon its difficulties with Damascus to resecure the disputed border area between them, conscripting an army of laborers to fortify his positions there. The situation became stalemated and armed confrontation between the two kingdoms gradually petered out. In his last years, Asa suffered a crippling foot disease. Priests attributed it to his having drafted even religious students for military service. ...
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